DJ Fuckoff
DJ | Producer
Her moniker sounds harsh but in fact DJ Fuckoff is not an unapproachable DJ and producer who gives a ‘fuck off away from me’ aura as suggested by her alias. DJ Fuckoff’s mixes are a blend of gabber, happy hardcore, psytrance, breakbeat, juke and more. Her collection reflects an unapologetic and fun attitude to mixing, bouncing from bass to ghettotech in the blink of a dilated eye. But who exactly is DJ Fuckoff? The woman behind alias, Zoe, is still figuring that part out but is certain she’s found her musical nook in Berlin.
The New Zealand native has spent the last few months going full throttle into recording mixes and producing music, as well as doing live streams for HÖR, Buff Ting Radio and Fritz amongst others to get her name out on the global airwaves. Production-wise, Zoe has released a slew of bluntly-named tracks including ‘FUCK THE SYSTEM', ‘BITCH’, ‘U A GEM’ and ‘Sex U’ which are available to listen and purchase over on her Bandcamp. Like her DJ name, the track titles do not mirror the feel of her productions which are packed with buoyant, dancefloor-friendly rhythms, and generally follow broken patterns laced with sugary vocals throughout.
In between prepping for upcoming podcasts and streams, Zoe has unearthed a memory from the depths of Brandenburg and shares how she has remained motivated and inspired despite the uncertainty of 2020…
Where was this photo taken and why did you choose it?
This photo was taken in a pretty location in Brandenburg. The whole scene was surrounded by old missile bunkers and rundown buildings. I chose this picture as it was a super spontaneous B2B with Alex from Double A Battery Team. His partner didn’t end up coming so I. (or he asked I can’t remember) asked him if we could go B2B as I brought my trusty hello kitty USBs. Ended up being a killa hour set. The music vibe at the time was banging electro, ghetto techno and booty vibes.
How have you been over the last few months and what's life currently like in Berlin?
The past few months I’ve been working on (trying my hardest) healthy lifestyle habits to help the physical and mental health, making banging tracks, and really developing my production skills a lot more. I feel like during lockdown I really sat down and started understanding who DJ Fuckoff was and what she wanted haha. She wants a lot! And Berlin is giving her liiiiifeee. Currently I am looking into studying and really focusing on finding nice tunes but definitely during Covid things have been a bit tough but I keep on pushing through. I’m hoping to get behind the decks as soon as its safe and throw down some heavvvvy tunes I been working on.
You've shared a slew of mixes and tracks over the last few weeks, what has kept you creatively motivated and engaged so far this year?
What's kept me creative/motivated really is the scene and all the crazy shit that’s coming out!!! All these producers have the sickest sound design and just keep upping themselves. Gives me a lot of ideas and ways to blend different genres together. I have really gotten more into the UK sounds and going deeper into jungle/dubstep/garage. I'm finding a lot of inspiration from some of my favourite artists. I also just got my first pair of studio monitors so this has helped my creative flow a lot!!
Also shout outs to all the amazing fem musicians I’ve met this year that really made it feel like a safe space to experiment and showcase my work. 💜
After working on tracks and getting your mixes together, what do you do to decompress on a day-to-day basis?
I like eating pizza and hanging out with my kitten. ☺️Otherwise I’m skateboarding, listening to mantras, hanging out at the supermarket/in the kitchen or watching animal documentaries on Netflix.
At this moment in time, how do you feel about the future?
I'm pretty interested to see how the future unfolds in music and politics. I mean this year has changed a lot, it has forced people to see a truth they probably didn’t want to see and the pandemic became a tool for self-reflection and realisation that your whole life can be flipped upside down like that. And out of all of this I’ve seen some amazing art and more of a grind in the creative industries, finding new ways to showcase their work and creating new platforms to be seen. So, I think we will see and experience the electronic music scene from a whole new angle over the next years.
What has been a constant source of comfort for you throughout this time?
Listening to Coco Bryce. 😊
Listen to DJ Fuckoff’s latest mix for Drill here and follow her below: